Even though steroids are illegal for athletic competition, so many athletes use them. What’s so wrong with using them to build up your strength?

-- high school athlete

One of the reasons for playing sports is to stay mentally and physically tough. A lot of times in practices and games, you will play a team that is much bigger or stronger than you. So you can’t play off your strength; you have to play with the intelligence that God gave you. And God supplies you with all the intelligence and strength, everything you need.

But some athletes, who may not be the most built or ripped players on the team and even some who are, think that steroids can make them bigger or stronger. They want to be better, like all of us do. Using steroids says that God didn’t supply you with all you need; you’re unhappy with the way God made you; so, you’re trying to change God’s creation. That isn’t right. God made you just right -- with all that you need. We all have our own unique traits and qualities, which God gave us. In Genesis, we read how God made man: “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good” (Gen 1:31). Just by those words, we know that we are made perfect, complete, and able to express every quality there is to express.

Even in biblical times, the people faced fights where other people were much bigger. When David fought Goliath, he turned down King Saul’s armor to fight the giant. Instead, he went with his staff and “chose him five smooth stones” (I Sam 17:40) for his sling. And then David slung one stone at Goliath’s forehead, and Goliath, the huge giant, toppled over dead, with David prevailing. Even though the giant was much bigger than David, David had the intelligence, mental courage, and strength to beat Goliath.

In playing football, or other sports, there are times where you just want to quit. Maybe you have a long way to go before you can be a top competitor. Other times the physical pain is just too much to bear. But these are reasons why I play football -- to show that I can rise above the physical limits of the pain and fear and glorify God on the football field. There is no better feeling than walking off that field knowing that you beat the physical and mental challenges that were presented, or that evil tried to bring. If your motive is to glorify God, and if you rely on God to supply all your needs, you won’t need steroids. You’ll be able to meet the physical challenges because you’re tough mentally.